UFC 200, which occurred in July of this year, was supposed to go down as the greatest fight card in the organization’s history. Unfortunately, this landmark card was battered by injuries and PED busts until it had deflated from a great card to a pretty good one.

We’ve been much luckier in the case of UFC 205, the November 12 card that will mark the Octagon’s long-awaited debut in New York City, New York. Barring a small shakeup in the withdrawal of undercard fighter Lyman Good, who was forced out of a planned bout with Belal Muhammed due to a potential USADA violation, the card has gone almost entirely unscathed.

Unfortunately, that changed Tuesday evening, as former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans was forced out of an undercard bout with former Strikeforce star Tim Kennedy. The bout was intended to be Evans’ first in the middleweight division.

Despite immediate speculation that his withdrawal from the card had something to do with his cut to the middleweight division, this is actually not the case.

According to Evans, who spoke to MMAFighting.com in the wake of his withdrawal from the card, this grim twist can be attributed to “irregular findings” revealed by an October 19 MRI. While he claims to have passed additional tests without a hitch, the New York State Athletic Commission opted not to gamble which his health, which resulted in his removal from the card.

“I’m disappointed,” Evans told MMA Fighting. “I’m healthy. I don’t want anyone worrying about me. I’m fine, physically speaking. Never felt better. It’s just the commission and their rules. I guess they have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to this.”

In the wake of Evans’ withdrawal from the card, Kennedy quickly took to social media in a ditch effort to seek out ….View full article